Indonesia

Notable Startups

GoJek

GoJek is one of the most successful Indonesian startups to date. Not only is it the first Indonesian startup to enter the travel industry, it is also the country’s first unicorn startup. The business can be broken down into 3 segments – hyperlocal transport, logistics and payments.

Above all, GoJek is a “social-tech enterprise” – its priority is always to improve the welfare of Indonesian workers. Its success is palpable; in June 2016 alone, over 20 million bookings were made through GoJek and it has 200,000 drivers across 25 Indonesian cities in its network.

GoJek has been able to quickly extend its brand to more logistics services with GO-FOOD, GO-MART (an on-demand shopping assistant), GO-MASSAGE, GO-GLAM and GO-CLEAN. The most significant of these is the launch of GO-CAR in 2016, a direct comparison to Uber and GO-AUTO, providing mechanics on-demand.

Tokopedia

Tokopedia is one of Indonesia’s largest online marketplaces and, like other similar businesses, it was born out of a need to solve the issue of trust in e-commerce in addition to providing a platform to bridge consumers and businesses.

Tokopedia acts as the escrow in the transaction and provides assurance by releasing funds only when the goods are received. This has also reduced the friction for individuals wanting to start an online business.

The founders are firm believers of the marketplace model as it benefits all of those involved – from the consumers to the sellers and the business –

“The success of a marketplace can only be achieved by helping others to become more successful”

Moreover, creating this marketplace has aided in job creation and improved sales for existing businesses. Now there are 1 million active sellers on the site, and 16.5 million products sold each month.

Tokopedia is also the first internet company in Southeast Asia to close a funding deal with Softbank and Sequoia Capital. With a US$100 million investment, it brings their total funds raised to date to $250 million.

Snapcart

Snapcart modernises the age-old idiom “One man’s trash is another’s treasure”. What many consumers do not realise is that a shopping receipt is full of valuable information for a business. Seemingly innocent information such as items in basket and time of purchase gives the brands an improved understanding consumer behaviour which will, in effect, inform their marketing decisions. Snapcart has worked with many big-name clients including Nestle, Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Loreal.

The process is simple and incentivised for the consumers. Shoppers take photos of their receipts through Snapcart in return for cash-backs and rewards organised by the brands. Their data is collected and analysed before they are sent through to the businesses. Snapcart is essentially an intermediary between the consumer and the brand.

Snapcart successfully closed a US$1.675 million pre-series A funding in 4 months after its 2015 launch. It achieved recognisable acclaim in 2016 by winning the Global Accenture Consumer Innovation Awards in May and achieving a ranking of 22nd in the Disrupt 100 List.

Traveloka

With over 20 million downloads, Traveloka is the most popular travel booking app in the region. It focuses on airline and hotel ticketing services for the local Indonesian market. By many standards, Traveloka can also be considered as the largest travel service, holding the most hotels, apartments and so on in its accommodation ‘inventory’. It has also established partnerships with over domestic and international airlines serving more than 200,000 routes worldwide.

Traveloka was originally a price comparison search engine for flights, but quickly expanded into ticket reservations and then into hotel room reservations. Throughout all of this, Traveloka has maintained its regional, service-oriented focus. Customers have access to 24/7 assistance from local customer service in their native tongue in addition to over 40 payment options.

In July 2017, Expedia made a $350 million primary minority investment in Traveloka bringing total investment to $500 million in the last year. Both parties want to strengthen their cooperation on the global hotel supply. According to the co-founder and CEO of Traveloka Ferry Unardi,

“Partnering with the world’s leading online travel company will allow us to focus on our continued growth in the online travel space to meet our goal of providing travellers with the best options and highest quality booking experience”.